I really wish Tom Everett Scott would find a great role he could sink his teeth into for a few years. He's so talented, and yet he keeps ending up in short-lived and dead-end roles.
The actor has signed for a two-episode guest stint on NBC's Law & Order, playing Governor Shalvoy, according to a Hollywood Reporter story. He'll be joined in one of the episodes by Alison Elliott, playing his wife, Rita Shalvoy.
Since breaking onto the Hollywood scene in 1996's That Thing You Do, Scott has floundered in short-lived series like 2002's Philly, playing Kim Delaney's love interest, and 2006's Saved, where he played a troubled paramedic. Most recently, he played Lucy Liu's estranged fiance on Cashmere Mafia.
If you saw the previews of this week's episode of Law & Order, you know that it's Jesse L. Martin's last show. The NBC promo implies that Detective Ed Green has gotten into major trouble and will be brought up on charges for his actions, perhaps lose his badge. That would be a very dramatic way to wrap up his nine years on Law and Order, and unlike the near-fatal shooting his character survived a couple of years ago, it leaves open the door for a guest stint down the road. But not too soon. Jesse L. Martin is in talks to star in a Broadway version of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, taking on the Sidney Poitier role.
Last night, USA Network invited some of their favorite advertisers -- and a few reporters -- to their upfront presentation, held at The Modern, a sleek restaurant and lounge located at New York's Museum of Modern Art. It was an opportunity for USA and NBC Universal executives to crow about the network's continued success as well as let advertisers know what's coming up in 2008 and how they can combine their advertising message with the unique "characters" that USA offers.
All that's well and good -- be ready for more product placement and ad pods that other networks have recently adopted -- but the best part about an upfront presentation are the stars that the network drags out to schmooze and booze with those advertisers. And USA brought the big guns, including Tony Shalhoub from Monk, Debra Messing from The Starter Wife, Jeffrey Donovan and Bruce Campbell from Burn Notice, Dulé Hill, James Roday, and Corbin Bernsen from Psych, Kathryn Erbe and Chris Noth from Law & Order: Criminal Intent, the WWE's Triple H and Shawn Michaels, and Mary McCormack from the network's new show In Plain Sight. I got to speak to a few of them; audio of those interviews is after the jump.
The world of primetime TV are primarily set in the real world. The real world based on the fiction they create. So, Law and Order -- in all its incarnations -- is set in New York City, but it's not the real five boroughs. The newspapers they read are not The New York Times, the Post or the Daily News. For contemporary TV fiction, reality is on the margins of the storytelling because you can't really set those characters in a real world. However, when the two worlds intersect, the results can be magic. Here's 8 big-time, primetime examples:
1) Cowboy Up Time Remember the episode of Lost when Ben wanted to convince Jack that he was in communication with the world outside the island? To prove that he was telling the truth, he showed Jack a video of the Boston Red Sox winning the world series in 2004. You can't get more real than that, right? And yet it was used in one of the most out of this world shows on the air. In fact, using Lost's own terminology, the Red Sox video is a constant truth in a universe that's a complete fiction.
(S01E04) I was never a fan of the other shows like New Amsterdam. Highlander, Forever Knight and shows of that kind never really appealed to me. Which is why it's so puzzling that I enjoy this show. Case in point...since our dreams are a manifestation of the way our subconscious reacts to our life experiences, a dude who has been alive for over 400 years must have some pretty crazy-ass dreams. That's kind of cool to me.
When this show premiered, I wondered if there was ever going to be some real New York style crimes featured. I guess I have my answer.
This season, Law and Order was looking for a way to get some new energy and interest in the long-running NBC Emmy-winning series, so on the judicial end of the show, they promoted Sam Waterson's Jack McCoy to DA and cast Linus Roache as Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter. Roache is one of those familiar faces that you've seen on other shows, maybe a movie or two, but here on Law and Order he's making you sit up and take notice. At least that's how it is for me. After watching the first two new episodes when the show returned recently, I wanted to know more about this guy. For starters, why did he remind me of a young Bobby Kennedy?
Well, it turns out that Linus Roache played Robert Kennedy in the mini-series, RFK. The Kennedy connection was even alluded to in last week's episode; at the end of the show, after McCoy had to defend his decision to prosecute overzealous New York City cops by taking the stand in open court, Roache's character, Cutter, gives him a tie pin that once belonged to RFK. With the last line of the show, Cutter says, "I found it on EBay."
One thing that always bugs me about shows with a fantastical premise is that they often spend the first episode building up to a climactic reveal of the premise. While the first ten minutes of FOX's new drama New Amsterdam is a barrage of information about new partners, alcoholism and famous acquaintances, the show only hints around at the fact that John Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is immortal and has been for a long time. Maybe I'm too cynical but is there anybody who will watch this show and not already know the premise? I've never understood that kind of thinking.
Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.
I can't remember the last time that one network had the first seven spots in the Nielsen ratings. FOX got the number one slot with the Super Bowl (of course), but then got the next six spots too, with the post-game, the episode of House that followed the post-game, the two American Idol episodes (again, of course), the other episode of House, and the new game/reality show Moment of Truth. And if you extend it to the top 20, FOX also had Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? and Don't Forget The Lyrics. Good week for them.
1. Super Bowl (FOX) 2. Super Bowl Post-Game (FOX) 3. House (FOX)
I've been thinking. Yeah, I know you might find that hard to believe, but it's true. I swear it is! What I've been thinking about is television. Ah, now you believe my thought processes are truly in motion. A lifetime of television watching is behind me and what do I have to show for my hours of dedication?
Well, other than the cool TV Squad gig, that is. That goes without saying.
What I have are life lessons learned from television, as well as some obscure bits of knowledge I may have overlooked had I led the scholarly life without television in my life.
Police stories make for some of the best stories either in real life or on television. I've been lucky enough to know cops over the years (not in a criminal sense, mind you) and find that it's sometimes a mutual macabre or jaded sense of humor we share. There are the by-the-book cops, the hot-doggers, the idealists, the cynical, the naive, the jaded, the good, the bad, and the "I want to get through my twenty and retire" kind of cops.
My favorite cop television shows over the years often reflect those characters and it's sometimes a bit surprising how close they come to actual police I know ... or how far they stray from the reality of police work.
Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.
1. America's Got Talent - Tues (NBC) 2. 60 Minutes (CBS) 3. So You Think You Can Dance - Thurs (FOX) 4. Singing Bee (NBC) 5. Hell's Kitchen (FOX) 6. CSI (CBS) 7. Two and a Half Men (CBS) 8. Without A Trace (CBS) 9. So You Think You Can Dance - Weds (FOX) 10. NCIS (CBS) 11. CSI: Miami (CBS) 12. CSI: NY (CBS) 13. Criminal Minds (CBS) 14. Cold Case (CBS) 15. So You Think You Can Dance - Mon (FOX) 16. Power of 10 (CBS) 17. Big Brother - Tues (CBS) 18. Extreme Makeover (ABC) 19. Law and Order: SVU (NBC) 20. Shark (CBS)
It's not too much of an exaggeration to say you could flip on your television at any time, any day, and catch an episode of Law and Order or any other series in the Law and Order franchise. TNT is mostly to thank (or blame) for this, having aired repeats of the series for quite some time.
The problem is, even people who love chocolate cake don't want chocolate cake all the damn time, so the ratings for Law and Order have been slipping. To try and alleviate this, TNT began to syndicate Without a Trace, but despite strong ratings when it first aired as a late night repeat from 2004 to 2006, its current place in primetime hasn't garnered nearly as many viewers.
The King of Queens (Mon., 9PM ET, CBS) series finale Another "fat husband, hot wife" sitcom bites the dust. What, does that only leave According to Jim? Guess the genre wore itself out. The King of Queens was probably the best of the lot, thanks to a genuinely funny cast. In the finale, Doug (Kevin James) wants a divorce after nine years, but Carrie (Leah Remini) thinks they can still save their marriage by adopting a child. Meanwhile, dad Arthur's wedding to Ava doesn't go as planned.
Gilmore Girls (Tue., 8PM ET, The CW) series finale Two best friends who happen to be mother and daughter: that was the premise of this show when it first premiered and it still holds true seven years later. I'm sad to see the Gilmores go, but ending with Rory's graduation from Yale seems only fitting. Our Girls have truly grown up. The finale sees Rory getting an intriguing job offer -- and meeting hero Christiane Amanpour. Luke goes into overdrive to organize a celebration, which provokes Lorelai to do something unexpected.
I really wish Tom Everett Scott would find a great role he could sink his teeth into for a few years. He's so talented, and yet he keeps ending up in short-lived and dead-end roles. 
If you saw the previews of this week's episode of Law & Order, you know that it's Jesse L. Martin's last show. The NBC promo implies that Detective Ed Green has gotten into major trouble and will be brought up on charges for his actions, perhaps lose his badge. That would be a very dramatic way to 
Last night, USA Network invited some of their favorite advertisers -- and a few reporters -- to their upfront presentation, held at The Modern, a sleek restaurant and lounge located at New York's Museum of Modern Art. It was an opportunity for USA and NBC Universal executives to crow about the network's continued success as well as let advertisers know what's coming up in 2008 and how they can combine their advertising message with the unique "characters" that USA offers.
The world of primetime TV are primarily set in the real world. The real world based on the fiction they create. So, 
(S01E04) I was never a fan of the other shows like New Amsterdam. Highlander, Forever Knight and shows of that kind never really appealed to me. Which is why it's so puzzling that I enjoy this show. Case in point...since our dreams are a manifestation of the way our subconscious reacts to our life experiences, a dude who has been alive for over 400 years must have some pretty crazy-ass dreams. That's kind of cool to me.
This season, 
One thing that always bugs me about shows with a fantastical premise is that they often spend the first episode building up to a climactic reveal of the premise. While the first ten minutes of FOX's new drama New Amsterdam is a barrage of information about new partners, alcoholism and famous acquaintances, the show only hints around at the fact that John Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is immortal and has been for a long time. Maybe I'm too cynical but is there anybody who will watch this show and not already know the premise? I've never understood that kind of thinking.
Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.
I've been thinking. Yeah, I know you might find that hard to believe, but it's true. I swear it is! What I've been thinking about is television. Ah, now you believe my thought processes are truly in motion. A lifetime of television watching is behind me and what do I have to show for my hours of dedication?
Police stories make for some of the best stories either in real life or on television. I've been lucky enough to know cops over the years (not in a criminal sense, mind you) and find that it's sometimes a mutual macabre or jaded sense of humor we share. There are the by-the-book cops, the hot-doggers, the idealists, the cynical, the naive, the jaded, the good, the bad, and the "I want to get through my twenty and retire" kind of cops.
It's not too much of an exaggeration to say you could flip on your television at any time, any day, and catch an episode of Law and Order or any other series in the Law and Order franchise. TNT is mostly to thank (or blame) for this, having aired repeats of the series for quite some time.
At 8, CBS has the Academy of Country Music Awards. 
Here are AOL Television's top picks of the week.
All the new shows - VIDEOS
The Upfronts: FOX
Carter Bays of How I Met Your Mother: The TV Squad Interview
